Palace takeover

Several protesters are arrested after a sovereignty group locks up Iolani Palace

A native Hawaiian sovereignty group briefly took control of the grounds of Iolani Palace last night, leading to the arrest of at least 22 protesters.

Palace officials closed the historic site "until further notice" to assess any possible damage.

About 25 members of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Nation, with its self-proclaimed king Akahi Nui, began locking the gates at about 5:30 p.m. One palace employee was allegedly assaulted at the palace gates.

The takeover occurred on the Statehood Day holiday, which commemorates Hawaii becoming a state. It was the second time since late April that a Hawaiian sovereignty group took over the grounds of the historic site.

LEILA FUJIMORI AND ROB SHIKINA

MIKE BURLEY / MBURLEY@STARBULLETIN.COM
A group of men hoisted a new flag at Iolani Palace yesterday evening after a group claiming to have royal heritage advised the media that they were assuming control of the palace.

State officers arrested 22 protesters last night after a Hawaiian sovereignty group chained the gates of the Iolani Palace grounds, broke into the palace -- reportedly intending to put its king on the throne -- and hoisted its flag on Statehood Day.

Some members of the group calling itself the Kingdom of Hawaii, Nation, allegedly assaulted a palace employee during the takeover.

After the arrests, palace officials issued a statement saying the historic site would be closed so they can assess the damage.

"Until further notice, Iolani Palace will be closed to the public due to a break-in ... by a group calling itself the Kingdom of Hawaii, Nation. Until it is possible for us to assess any damage and to ensure that the palace doors are secure, it is necessary for us to restrict public access," the statement said.

About 25 group members with its king, Akahi Nui, began locking the gates at about 5:30 p.m., said Kippen de Alba Chu, executive director of Friends of Iolani Palace.

"The king, they said, is going to sit on the throne," de Alba Chu recalled a man saying. "They also said we need to open the palace doors or they are going to break them down."

"Alarms are going off at the palace and the barracks building," said Noelani Ah Yuen, facilities manager at Iolani Palace, by phone from the Kanaina Building on the palace grounds during the takeover. "We don't have any law enforcement here helping us."

The group had about 15 to 20 guards wearing red shirts who refused to allow people inside the gates.

"The king of Hawaii has returned to his throne, and the state of Hawaii is under a state of arrest by a federal marshal to ensure the interests of the USA," said a written statement handed out to the media.

It was the second time a sovereignty group locked the palace gates this year. About 70 members of a separate group, the Hawaiian Kingdom Government, occupied the grounds on April 30.

"We don't have any information on this group (Kingdom of Hawaii, Nation)," said de Alba Chu. "We never heard of them before.

"Other sovereignty groups are very upset with this," he said.

"It's ridiculous," he added. "We are preserving Hawaii's history and culture -- that's why we don't want any damage to happen to the building or its contents. That's why we're asking all groups to respect the palace grounds."

He said, "We're extremely frustrated, and we feel betrayed by the Honolulu Police Department. Our personal safety was at risk, and the officer just left. It's like we can't even count on the Police Department when our safety is in jeopardy. It's atrocious."

MIKE BURLEY / MBURLEY@STARBULLETIN.COM
A Department of Land and Natural Resources officer hauled away a man wearing a "Security" shirt.

Ah Yuen said she was assaulted when she approached the east gate to talk with people outside the gate at about 6:30 p.m.

Three of the group's members began slamming the gate on her, trying to push her out, she said.

She called out for help to a nearby police officer, who told her it was not his jurisdiction, she said.

The palace is on state grounds, outside of HPD jurisdiction. State Department of Land and Natural Resources officers arrived later in the evening and started making arrests.

After Ah Yuen pushed her way back onto the palace grounds, the guards let her go and she went into the administration building.

"I got a few scrapes, my neck is kind of sore, my back is kind of sore," she said. "We have an obligation to the people of Hawaii, to the nation, to protect and preserve the palace, and that's our main concern."

She was later taken to the Queen's Medical Center by an official with the Friends of Iolani Palace.

Alfred Love, a group member who contended he was a federal marshal, denied that anyone had been manhandled at a side gate.

The group's leaders -- King Akahi Nui and Queen Akahi Wahine -- were on the palace grounds but did not speak to the media.

Akahi Nui claims he descends from King Kamehameha I and is the heir to the crown.

The protesters initially allowed the media onto the grounds, but asked reporters and photographers to leave at about 7:30 p.m.

Love said he would escort the king to the throne. Love "placed the king of Hawaii and his kingdom under federal protective custody and arrested the state of Hawaii from doing anything that would harm or endanger the kingdom, or threaten the treaties of the USA by armed force" against the Kingdom of Hawaii, Nation, the group's statement read.

Also present was Delano Muller, a man wearing a black suit and tie, who claimed to be a U.N. ambassador for the Kingdom of Hawaii, Nation, and an observer for a human rights organization.

"I'm here as an observer," Muller said.

Muller and Patrick McCormick, special adviser to Akahi Nui and Akahi Wahine, said they were at the palace as observers because the king had been arrested and wrongly imprisoned for five months in 2002 for trespassing in Ulupalakua on property that had belonged to his great-great-grandmother.

Elton Gushiken said he is brother of the queen and the only relative on the grounds. He said the king is from Wailuku and that the queen is from Kauai.

Other native Hawaiians began showing up and asking questions at the gates, saying they received word by e-mail of the takeover.

One Hawaiian man told a Kingdom of Hawaii, Nation, guard that Hawaiian sovereignty groups needed to unite, otherwise they will eventually fade away. "If we fight in small groups, nothing is going to be done," he said.